Gyöngyös (; german: Gengeß) is a town in Heves county in Hungary, east of Budapest. Situated at the foot of the Sár-hegy and Mátra mountains, it is the home of numerous food production plants, including milk production and sausage factories. It is also the home of many vineyards on the slopes of the Sárhegy. The Art-Nouveau and Baroque buildings around the main square were reconstructed after a disastrous fire started in the local hospital in 1917, destroying a number of buildings housing important Jewish institutions and leaving in all around 8,000 homeless.

Name

The meaning of the town's name is "Made of Pearls"; Croats from Hungary call this city ''Đunđuš'' . The 16/17th-century historian Miklós Istvánffy wrote that the name of the town comes from the Hungarian word for

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

(''fagyöngy'' literally "wood-pearl"), which is abundant in the local woods.

History

Gyöngyös was home to a large Jewish community before World War II. In 1942, anti-Jewish laws were adopted in the province, affecting the Jews of the town. Following the occupation of Hungary by the German army in March 1944, 1800 Jews were locked in a ghetto. Some were saved by Hungarian Righteous Among the Nations personnel but most of them were deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

where they were murdered.

Sights to visit

There are many monuments and places of interest in the town, such as the Orczy mansion, home of the Mátra Museum, Saint Bartholomew's Church (

Saint Bartholomew Church, Gyöngyös, Hungary Saint Bartholomew Church ( hu, Szent Bertalan Nagytemplom) is in the center of Gyöngyös (northern Hungary) and was built in the 14th century. The locals call it the "Big Church" ( hu, Nagytemplom) because it is the town and its vicinity's ...

) in the center of town, and its Treasury.

Notable residents

Gyöngyi Horváth Gyöngyi, Gyöngyvér, or Gyöngyvirág are Hungarian feminine given names. They come from the Hungarian word, ''gyöngy,'' which means pearl. Gyöngyvirág means "lily of the valley" and Gyöngyvér was created from "gyöngy" and "testvér" (me ...

, sociologist, conference organiser *

Rudolph Ritter von Brudermann Rudolf Nikolaus Ritter von Brudermann (from 1919 Rudolf Brudermann; 9 January 1851 Gyöngyös, Hungary – 21 January 1941 Kaltenleutgeben, Lower Austria, Austria) was an Austro-Hungarian ''General der Kavallerie'' (general of the cavalry) during ...

(1851–1941), general of Austria-Hungary during the First World War *

Béla Kerékjártó Béla Kerékjártó (1 October 1898, in Budapest – 26 June 1946, in Gyöngyös) was a Hungarian mathematician who wrote numerous articles on topology. Kerékjártó earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of Budapest in 1920. He taught at ...

(1898–1946), mathematician * Sandor Kenyeres (born 1949), property developer, scientific philanthropist, and cultural visionary * Gedeon Richter (1872–1944), pharmacist, business magnate, philanthropist, founder of Gedeon Richter plc, pioneer of the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry * Soma Visontai (1854–?), lawyer, deputy * Paul Vay de Vaya (1735–1800), Major General (1794), Feldmarschall-leutnant (1799–1800) * Margit Gréczi (born 1941), painter * Zita Pataki (born 1973), weather presenter

Politics

* Gábor Vona (born 1978), politician, leader of the political party Jobbik * Gábor Fodor (born 1962), jurist, politician, leader of the Hungarian Liberal Party *

Pál Almásy Pál Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós (1818 – 1 November 1882) was a Hungarian lawyer and politician, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1849. Career After studying law he became a lawyer in 1838. He part ...

(1818–1882), lawyer, politician, Speaker of the House of Representatives (1849) *

Károly Kamermayer Károly Kamermayer (14 May 1829 – 5 June 1897) was a Hungarian jurist and councillor, who served as the first mayor of Budapest between 1873 and 1896. During his tenure, the city grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade ...

(1829–1897), jurist, councillor, the first mayor of Budapest (1873–1896) * József Balázs (born 1965), politician * Gabor Horváth, (born 1963) brigadier general, army carrier officer, promoter of NATO and EU membership, commander

Sports

* Viktor Szabó (born 1986), footballer * Dárius Csillag (born 1995), footballer * Dávid Ficsór (born 1986), footballer *

Gergő Gohér Gergő Gohér (born 16 June 1987) is a Hungarian footballer who plays for Szolnok. Club career In July 2021, Gohér returned to Szolnok. Club statistics ''Updated to games played as of 30 June 2020.'' Club honours ;Szolnoki MÁV FC *Hunga ...

(born 1987), footballer *

András Herczeg András Herczeg (born 11 July 1956) is a Hungarian football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Debreceni VSC. He worked as the manager of the Debreceni VSC between 2007 and 2010. He led his team to the groups stages of ...

(born 1956), football manager, former player, manager of

Debreceni VSC Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a professional football club, based in Debrecen, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungarian football. They are best known internationally for reaching the group stages of the ...

* Zsófia Kovács (born 1988), professional triathlete *

József Éles József Éles (born 16 February 1969 in Budapest) is a former Hungarian international handball player and handball coach. Playing career Club Early career and Veszprém success Éles started his career in Budapest Spartacus SC in the Hungar ...

(born 1969), former handball player, handball coach of the Dominican Republic women's national team *

Attila Szekrényessy Attila Szekrényessy (20 January 1913 – 21 January 1995) was a Hungarian pair skater who competed with his sister Piroska Szekrényessy. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and died in Gyöngyös. He and his sister were six-time gold medal ...

(1913–1995), pair skater * Gabriella Csépe (born 1973), swimmer * László Polgár (born 1946), educational psychologist and developer of educational method to develop "stars" (whom he calls "geniuses"). He and his wife Klára used his method to develop daughters Zsuzsa Susan Polgár, Zsófi

Sofia Polgár Sofia Polgar ( hu, Polgár Zsófia, ); born November 2, 1974) is a Hungarian and Israeli chess player, teacher, and artist. She holds the FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster. A former chess prodigy, she is the middle sister ...

and Judit Polgár into the world's leading chess players, Olympic champions. His paternal grandfather in yöngyös was a great Talmudic scholar. *

Energia SC Gyöngyös Energia or Energiya may refer to: * Energia (corporation), or S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, a Russian design bureau and manufacturer ** Energia (rocket), a Soviet rocket designed by the company *Energia (company), a company t ...

(1992–present), football club

Twin towns – sister cities

Gyöngyös is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Luohe, China * Manisa, Turkey * Pieksämäki, Finland * Ringsted, Denmark * Sanok, Poland * Štip, North Macedonia * Târgu Secuiesc, Romania * Zeltweg, Austria * Shusha, Azerbaijan

Gallery

File:Víztorony - Gyöngyös.jpg, Aerial photograph of the water tower, built in 1927.

References

External links

* . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyoengyoes Populated places in Heves County Orczy family